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2012 IndyCar Schedule Update

-New Hampshire highly unlikely to return in 2012.
http://www.racer.com/report-new-hampshi ... le/212568/

-With Kentucky and Las Vegas questionable for 2012. IndyCar may have only 4 oval races next season.

-Road America may join the schedule next season. Only issue is finding a date.
http://www.racer.com/report-indycar-at- ... le/212611/

-Rumor: Sonoma will be dropped for shared weekend with ALMS at Laguna Seca.

-Detroit City Council has approved the IndyCar race at Belle Isle for June 1-3.
http://www.freep.com/article/20110921/S ... t%7CSports

Every oval race in IRL history outside of Indy and Iowa has consisted of pretty much empty stands. Ever since George screwed everything up attendance at oval races has declined rapidly.

Maybe they should revive the Michigan 500 or go back to Phoenix.

Good luck with Michigan. I, like everyone else, would love to see them go back to Michigan, but I doubt ISC would really want the IndyCars back in Michigan, for whatever reason.

There is a very real fear within the NASCAR world that if Indycar ever got their shit together they could once again give NASCAR a real run for it's money. Only the split gave NASCAR the rapid rise to prominence it has enjoyed over the last 15 years. NASCAR's popularity has waned as of late, unfortunately the ineptitude of Indycar has failed to capitalize on this leaving fans of oval racing with a lack of anywhere to turn. If Indycar ever manages to pull its head out of its ass and give the fans a product they can be passionate about, then it could once again rival NASCAR for popularity. This is something that NASCAR clearly does not want, and since they are the decacto controllers of ISC, ISC makes it a point to make life very difficult for Indycar.

SMI is more or less a purely financial deal. Texas draws a good crowd, that race will stay. If Indycar was smart, they'd look real hard at the few independent tracks still out there... Here's looking at you Pocono.

So here comes the real New Hamphire Motor Speedway and the track president says in an article posted today on the UnionLeader.com that the track likely won't host an IndyCar race in 2012.

Why? Because they needed 40,000 fans to break even and 28,000 showed up. President Jerry Gappens says "it was a significant loss." Meanwhile, more than 100,000 are predicted to show up for the upcoming NASCAR race. That will most likely be a sigificant profit. (Read the article here.)

The common response is "the IndyCar race wasn't marketed well enough!" Nah. I don't think so. That was always the excuse for crappy attendance at Chicagoland and Kansas, along with undertones of NASCAR-owned Internatonal Speedway Corporation, which owns Chicagoland and Kansas Speedways, not trying very hard to sell the race.

I gotta say it: bullshit.

End of the day, the IndyCar brand is not making oval fans want to spend at least $100 per (when you include tickets and food etc.) to attend. So don't blame the oval fans. Don't shrug it off and say "if the fans would just put their money where their mouths are, all would be well." True in the abstract, but never blame the customer. If the customer is not buying, it's not his or her fault. The customers ARE always right when it comes to how they choose to spend their money. This is business, not charity, and expecting fans to donate their disposable income to a business to keep that business running is, well, unAmerican.

Good luck with Michigan. I, like everyone else, would love to see them go back to Michigan, but I doubt ISC would really want the IndyCars back in Michigan, for whatever reason.

Indycars needs more American manufacturers, Chevy coming back is a start, and needs more American drivers running at the front, not dawdling at the back and being over-hyped. Ganassi and Penske should be offered incentives to run at least one American and make sure that NASCAR can't just come in and tempt American drivers away with the promise of lots of money. But that's expensive.

They do have the oval and road/street course champion idea going but you never hear about it.

Cleveland coming back would be so awesome, the greatest track for racing ever!

Andretti Autosport will run Chevrolet engine's next year:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/94765

Townsend Bell will be in for Justin Wilson in the final races:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/94761

Jean Alesi has now confirmed that he will run the Indy 500 next year.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/94731

"The Former useless F1 driver and former useless DTM driver Jean Alesi will run a useless race in the 2012 Indy 500"

"The Former useless F1 driver and former useless DTM driver Jean Alesi will run a useless race in the 2012 Indy 500"

He wasn't useless, those lousy Ferraris in the early 90s amongst other teams he drove for later on is what held him back. I think I remember Jean considering Williams at one point before choosing Ferrari? Imagine what could have been...